Often when painting in a plein air (French for "in the open air" ) competition, I must rush to have my piece completed, framed and delivered to the judge by a certain time. On this day, I was painting one of the Courthouse entrances in Historic Downtown St. Charles, Missouri. I had only minutes to spare to get my piece to the judge, when I discovered that someone had blocked my van! I ran into the courthouse to try to find the owner to move their vehicle to no avail. Eventually, the officials were understanding and gave me a pass for being 10 minutes late. The mysterious darkness under the arch and the my anxiety in the situation inspired the name of this painting. It is a reference to the "monster" who was "lurking" within the courthouse while blocking my van.